DETERMINATION OF FOOT PARAMETERS USING HEIGHT AND AGE FOR PROSTHETICS AND FORENSIC APPLICATION AMONGST IGBOS STUDENTS IN MADONNA UNIVERSITY.

Foot dimensions/measurements are important in prosthetic designs, fabrication and fittings and its application in height estimation is continually being investigated. The present study examines the relationship between height/weight and foot dimensions of Igbos in Madonna university Nigeria, for forensic and prosthetic application. Materials and Methods: Height (Y), Foot length (FL), foot height (FH) foot breath (FB), and bimalleolar breadth (BMB) of 300 subjects comprising of 150 females and 150 males were measured after obtaining an informed consent. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. Results: Sex differences were found to be highly significant (P < 0.0001) for all the measurements with males having higher values than the females. During the foot length for males and females with the use of the chi square analysis the foot length was greater in males than females by mean value 10.6820 to 8.6660. The males also had a standard error of males to females was 0.19428 to 0.06315. Variance of males to females is 3.775 to 0.3990. Range of males to females is 12.50 to 2.00, skewness of males to females is 3.735 to 0.218. In conclusion the foot dimensions obtained here would be useful in the design and fabrication of foot prosthesis and orthosis for the Igbos, Nigeria, which would help to approximate the normal gait in cases of amputation of lower extremity. The generated linear and multiple regressions models are of utmost importance in height reconstruction for the study population in cases of mass/manmade disaster or crime investigation.